The Impact of the Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve Injury on Prognosis After McKeown Esophagectomy for ESCC

Background The objective of this study was to assess the impact of the recurrent laryngeal nerve injury (RLNI) after esophagectomy on prognosis. Methods Retrospectively collected data from 297 patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) who underwent McKeown esophagectomy at our department from April 2014 to May 2018, were analyzed. Results RLNI occurred in 31.9% of the patients. Left-side RLNI occurred 2.8 times more often than right-side RLNI. Among the cases in which assessment of the vocal cords was continued, 8.4% involved permanent injury. There were no significant differences among clinicopathological data between patients with RLNI and without. Compared with patients without RLNI, patients with RNLI have longer operation time, more number of bronchoscopy suctions, longer postoperation hospital stay, and higher incidence of postoperative complications. T stage, N stage, RLN lymph node metastasis were independent risk factors for the prognosis, but RLNI is not independent risk factors for long-term survival. Conclusion RLNI is a serious complication that will affect the short-term prognosis of patients and reduce the quality of life of patients. It should be avoided as much as possible during surgery, but it may not have negative impact on the long-term survival.